about lemonade stands is that if we see a stand, and we have cash on hand, we stop.Today the cups were 25 cents each and tasted homemade. Henry decidedly liked the sour. Our family has stopped for dozens of umbrellas and cardboard signs. We always throw in more and one day, our little guys will have a stand. I promise.

are soft and chubby.make us smile over the smallest gestures and sounds.at six months are really starting to look like themselves.can’t talk but we like to imagine and guess at what they are thinking (a little Look Who’s Talking influence).like Jake can come over anytime and keep these two infatuated, because they would love a baby for themselves.

collecting bugs
 coloring
 wrestling
 building and inventingchasing fish
watching
playing on a team relaxingclimbing

balancing
and finding as many opportunities to soak up this last week.There, (I said it), in a week this summer adventure will end. I am still in a bit of denial,until then, I am promising to make the most of it.

The longer I am a mother the more aware I am of my friends and their parenting styles. I am fascinated, in fact. I have a group of friends with only one baby (Angela, Nicole, Jen, Melissa, Stephanie,). Then there is Julie, she has twins with all of its own adventure and drama. I am drawn to listen to families with three (Pilar and Tammy) and pick up on any advice or tips. I also still have a soft spot for huge families. I look back at my own mom and what she chose to emphasize or value as she raised my sister and I. At fourteen months apart the pair of us were compared and held to different standards at times.

These thoughts are swirling through my mind after spending an afternoon with my dear friend Jen from Minneapolis. My roommate in France.  A former vegan and  fellow So. Cal. girl who traveled north for the sights and sounds of the city during college. She is a mom of a sweet boy named Alton.

I heard a little of her thinking about constructive and specific praise for her son (tons to consider). I watched her ask questions and move at a different pace than I do with my own kids (Joe even carries a whistle he likes to blow). I listened to her describe her boy’s interests in elevators and the library. I tried to imagine their train trips to the Mall of America.

I caught myself feeling jealous of all her free time and then feeling incredibly sad about returning to work next week. I found myself saying good-bye too suddenly at the Farmer’s Market and wishing I had asked more questions or that we somehow lived closer. In an instant I snapped into being so thankful they stayed as long as they did (park, lunch, nap, Nature Center, and Farmer’s Market). The entire range of emotions one can feel in a friendship that has spanned many years and cities and phases. I am thrilled she still makes time to squeeze me in when she heads west to see family. Makes me feel like family.I look forward to the next stage of our friendship and parenting. We are two very different and yet very similar ladies. Jen is hilarious, likes poetry, confessed to reading the Hobbit, convinced me to purchase yogurt today, and can relate to all the anxiety over my appointment tomorrow. We are like those color mixings where she is yellow and I am blue but together we make green.

Our little friend turned three and had a baseball party in Seal Beach on Sunday.Joe ended up pitching a bunch as the kids took turns running crazy style around the bases.They were all smilesto just “play ball”and hang out as buddies.Meanwhile Olivine found ways  to make friends.  She was given a phone to play with and so she snapped a ton of pictures. Tammy, my baby wants to be adopted by your mom. She even kissed her good-bye.Another mom made her this flower necklace and of course her own papa let her use use his camera. This meant I had to pose a bunch while she tried to hold the camera straight.My favorite (there were a ton to delete) was this self-portrait of her toes.

So my family has baseball fever and luckily we have tickets to that Angels game later this month.

A morning of park playat Whaleyearly enough to avoid the humidityWe brought along balls and
bats forkeeping little ones active.
In the afternoon we had snack
and naps and drawing.
for recharging
A Saturday that I distinctly notice will disappear in a couple weeks when I start back up with teaching in the morning.
I even sat through Up. Everyone warned me about sad parts, but they didn’t prepare me for the stinging in my chest. My kids were looking at me with worry. I hate the idea and it feels like a weight on my chest that one day I could loose Joe or he would loose me. What would I do? And this is an animated kid’s movie. It didn’t ruin my lovely Saturday, but I want to sleep tired after that kind of heart ache.

A full day that I use a couple standard measures to gage the success of with little ones. They had their friends over. They played on bikes until sweaty with no arguing. They tree climbed, transplanted caterpillars into trees for safe keeping, watched beetles, and cracked jokes.
Then we headed to the beach and I could ignore the screaming at the tops of their lungs. I hardly had to say anything at all. They had all the freedom they could want while I daydreamed and listened and soaked in some sun.Later, there was fearless reaching for wild  moonjellies in the lagoon. It was post-lunch and beach clean up, so they stripped down to undies.
It was a double dose of water play. They even found a fish skeleton to poke at.And then an evening topped off with tummies full from a sushi party. 
Family style, reach for your fillings, and maybe some shitake mushrooms never made it to the roll, but instead detoured to my lips, chaotic “free for all” type of dinner I relish.I would live like this year round if I could.

We have been trying to eat vegan more often these days. Not for any particular reason except that Joe and I were vegan for so long. I am in a phase of reminding myself that dairy isn’t necessary all the time.

While in Portland, one of the many take aways from my trip, highly recommended so I came home and checked out the cookbook: Isa Does It. This is her latest cookbook (I already own two) and luckily the library had a copy.

I am definitely in love with the puffy pillow pancakes (her name for them that is completely accurate) that I altered by adding dark chocolate chips to.Her curried peanut sauce bowl with tofu. This feels like the mixing of sweet and spicy that is mine and Joe’s palates complimenting one another.She is a brunch fan (as am I) and so her chipotle sausage hash is another versatile dish. I love cilantro and avocado as a topping.

I love the colorful pages and “notes” she provides that almost feel like she is talking to me. No fancy terms or assuming within cooking steps. I love the straight forward steps and time estimates for “total time” and “active time.”

A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.